Shared rooms with strangers – VG

– She is very surprised and was not prepared for this. It is exposed to poor health conditions. It’s like you almost don’t believe it, says his girlfriend Sucre Alba (45).

Marlenny traveled from Italy on Friday to celebrate Christmas in Norway with Alba, who lives in Lørenskog. They were both prepared for her to have to be quarantined at the hotel upon arrival, but after the plane landed shortly before 11 p.m. Friday night at Gardermoen, the stay was something completely different than it had been. imagined.

Alba tells the story of her boyfriend on her behalf to VG.

He says his girlfriend, who doesn’t want her full name printed, first sat down in the airport arrivals hall and waited to be taken to the Clarion hotel, where it will eventually fill up with nearly a hundred people.

– It took a long time, and first they said there were some problems with transportation. But in the end it turns out that the hotel is full, says Alba.

VG has received many notices that there were stacks of long lines at passport control and the arrivals hall on Friday night, and that several experienced being placed in rooms with others in quarantined hotels.

I had to share a room

At four in the evening, the waiting passengers were finally transported by bus to the hotel, and here Marlenny is told that she is heading to a room with four other strangers, according to her.

– She refused to share a room with four other people, and I arranged it so that she could change to one room with another. She doesn’t want this either, but she has no choice, says Alba.

The hotel is said to have installed “emergency rooms,” in what appeared to be copy rooms, storage rooms and meeting rooms, and put up beds, the couple say.

– I said on the phone that these are deviations from the crown and infection control rules, where they share the same air in a small room.

The couple is disappointed with the deal.

– Now they have demanded that she comply with those rules, something she has done, but then they break them themselves. We do our best to follow all the rules, then she comes to the hotel and is treated like that, says Alba.

– It gets too stupid

Anette Monsen Londalen (32) says her boyfriend from the Netherlands, who arrived in Gardermoen last night, was also placed in a room with another stranger at a Clarion hotel. This after about five hours of waiting in the arrivals hall.

– It’s going to be too stupid. Everyone wants to go home safe and sound for Christmas. You try to respect the rules, but then they don’t respect you.

Londalen does not understand why her boyfriend is not allowed to go home in the apartment while she lives with her parents, but instead had to stay in a room with a stranger.

On Wednesday, the government presented a proposal for several changes to the quarantine hotel scheme.

Among other things, that people who do not live, own or rent a home during the quarantine period can stay in a “suitable place”, if they can easily document that the quarantine rules are being followed, Justice Minister Monica Mæland said in the press conference.

In practice, this means that one must have access to a separate living room, as well as a bathroom and a kitchen.

– It must be possible to avoid close contact with others, said Mæland.

After sleeping for three hours Saturday night at the Clarion Hotel, guests were due to attend a briefing at the hotel at eight in the morning.

– He is tired, we were prepared for him to go to the quarantine hotel, but he was only going to the hotel room. Then he realized that it would take some time to arrive, but there was no information or follow-up. Then it reaches its peak when he has to sleep with a wild stranger in a meeting room, says Londalen.

The bride has now been moved to a new hotel in a private room, but the couple are still worried.

– We fear that it was infected by sharing a room. There is no point in doing it.

– Unfortunately communication failure

– Yesterday there was an extraordinary situation, when there were many more travelers than before. Unfortunately we were not aware of this as we did not receive any information on who goes to the hotels before they cross the border. Therefore, our receiving apparatus was not sized for such a large number, says Gunnhild Grimstad-Kirkeby, municipal director of medical and social care in the municipality of Ullensaker.

Ullensaker is responsible for the quarantined hotels in Gardermoen. The two hotels that the municipality has at its disposal were filled overnight.

– We saw this happen and the intention was for the travelers on the last planes to be sent to quarantined hotels in Oslo, but due to what appears to be an unfortunate communication failure this did not happen.

She confirms that the waiting time at the airport was very long and that several strangers were placed in rooms together.

– We have received a report from the hotel that an error was made when placing four guests in the same room. This was done because of a misunderstanding that they were in the same cohort. It turned out not to vote. Now they are distributed in ordinary rooms, but of course this should not have happened. We have recorded who has been in close contact in case it turns out that the infection will need to be tracked later, says Grimstad-Kirkeby.

Now additional resources have been invested in the reception system, including several buses, and travelers going into hotel quarantine are being sent to Oslo, he says.

– There should not be more people in the same room, who are not family. It was a mistake that was made and we reinforced control to prevent it from happening again. For those who were incorrectly placed in the same room, we have recorded who has been in close contact in case it turns out that later infections will need to be tracked.